How do I cook gnocchi so it is not stodgy?
Why gnocchi is done the moment it floats, and the pan-fry finish that makes shop-bought gnocchi worth eating.
beginner15 min3 min read
Food & Cooking
The cooking questions people actually search for — how long, how hot, why did it go wrong, and how to keep food good for longer. Techniques and timings, not recipe theatre.
816 guides
How do I cook halloumi so it is not rubbery?
Why halloumi squeaks, the thickness and heat that fix it, and why serving it hot matters more than anything else.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I cook squid without it going rubbery?
The two-minutes-or-forty rule, why there is nothing usable in between, and how to prepare a squid tube.
intermediate25 min3 min readHow do I cook sweet potato so it is not watery?
Why sweet potato behaves nothing like potato, and the dry-heat methods that concentrate it rather than diluting it.
beginner40 min3 min readHow do I cook venison and game without it going dry?
Why lean meat behaves nothing like beef, the two doneness rules, and which game birds forgive a mistake.
intermediate35 min3 min readHow do I hot smoke food at home?
The stovetop and kettle-barbecue methods, which woods suit what, and the internal temperatures that decide when it is cooked.
intermediate45 min5 min readHow do I make a chocolate ganache that does not split?
The ratios for pouring, filling and truffles, and the splash of cold liquid that brings a split ganache back.
intermediate15 min3 min readHow do I make soup creamy without cream?
Six ways to get a silky texture from the ingredients already in the pan, and which suits which soup.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I make yoghurt at home?
How to make yoghurt with no special equipment, why the temperature matters, and how to keep a culture going indefinitely.
beginner10 hr3 min readHow do I prepare artichokes, asparagus and awkward vegetables?
The specific trick for each of the vegetables people avoid because they look like work.
intermediate25 min2 min readHow do I steam vegetables without a steamer?
Improvising a steamer from a colander, a sieve or a plate, and the water level that decides whether you are steaming or boiling.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I take the pin bones out of a fish fillet?
Where the row of pin bones actually runs in a fillet, how to find them by touch, and the pull direction that gets them out without tearing a channel through the flesh.
beginner5 min3 min readHow do I turn mayonnaise into tartare, marie rose and other sauces?
Eight sauces that are mayonnaise plus two or three things — tartare, marie rose, burger sauce, remoulade, ranch, tonnato, rouille and herb mayonnaise — with the proportions that make each one work.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I work with filo pastry without it drying out?
The damp cloth that buys you time, how much fat each layer needs, and why filo cannot be treated like other pastry.
intermediate20 min3 min readHow long does food take in a pressure cooker?
Realistic times for common foods, how to convert a conventional recipe, and why the release method is part of the cooking time.
intermediate10 min3 min readIs grass-fed beef actually different, and is it worth the money?
What the term is allowed to mean in the UK, the differences you can genuinely taste and see, and the ones that are oversold.
beginner10 min3 min readIs it safe to eat raw fish at home?
What the freezing requirement actually is, why "sushi grade" means nothing, which species carry which risk, and the handling that matters more than any label.
intermediate10 min5 min readIs pink lamb safe to eat?
Why whole cuts of lamb follow the same rule as beef, which lamb products do not, and the temperatures for rare, pink and well-done.
beginner8 min3 min readWhat can I use instead of egg?
There is no universal egg substitute — only substitutes for each of the jobs an egg does. Match the replacement to the function and most recipes work; ignore the function and none of them do.
beginner6 min5 min readWhat do the codes stamped on an egg mean?
Every UK egg carries a code that tells you the farming method, the country and the farm. How to read it in three seconds, what the lion stamp adds, and why the box and the shell can disagree.
beginner5 min4 min readWhat is the difference between simmering and boiling?
What each looks like in the pan, the temperature ranges, and why using the wrong one toughens meat and clouds stock.
beginner5 min3 min readWhat should I do when a recipe is vague or confusing?
Decoding vague instructions like 'season to taste', 'medium heat' and 'until golden' into decisions you can actually make.
beginner10 min2 min readWhich yeast should I use, and how do they differ?
Fresh, active dried and instant compared, the conversion ratios between them, and which need activating first.
beginner5 min3 min readWhy did my bread machine loaf collapse, or come out dense and pale?
Four bread machine faults — a sunken crater, a short dense brick, a pale soft crust, and a hole in the base — with the causes that produce each and the one habit that prevents most of them.
beginner12 min5 min read
Going deeper: PizzaHQ
Dough hydration and fermentation schedules, flour selection, oven types and bake profiles.
PizzaHQ is in development — GuideHQ covers the practical answers in the meantime.